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What I'm Loving

It’s been a pretty good week here and thankfully, my sinus infection is almost all cleared up so I’m looking forward to being healthy this weekend. Although we have no plans, I’ll be enjoying some downtime, completing a few last minute nursery decorating tasks, running some errands, getting out for a few long walks in the perfect early fall-like weather, cooking and meal prepping, and watching some football. That should keep me busy!

Tonight, John and I are going to enjoy a date night to try out an Italian restaurant we’ve heard good things about. My doctor was the one that actually told me about it and said that his pregnant patients swear by their pumpkin tortellini. I was sold the minute those two words escaped his mouth.

I have a few things I’ve loved this week so I’ll just get right to it.

I am always looking for mind blowing beauty tricks via Pinterest so when I saw this collection, I immediately added it to my favorites list. I’ve never in my life tried a top knot bun (mainly because I know I’d never be able to pull it off) but the first picture makes it seem effortless.

A friend sent me this blog and said the writer behind it reminded her so much of me and my story. Danielle is an author, mother, and blogger living with Ulcerative Colitis. She details her story, struggle, and lifestyle on her blog and shares how she copes with her autoimmune disorder through her diet. Danielle also shares some pretty wonderful looking recipes and I’ve already put a few on our dinner menu for next week.

I’m a first time mom and obviously clueless on what I actually need for my baby. For example, I was driving home from work last night and started panicking that I had not gotten Vaseline yet. It just seems like something I should have, especially with a newborn baby boy. For some reason, I feel like if I don’t have it before I bring him home, I’ll just feel like a bad mom (crazy thinking I know). This list is a great and practical review of things you actually need.

And local readers….

If you are interested in a FREE flywheel cycle class next week, Game Plan Nutrition is hosting an event in Boston. RSVP to Kayla@gameplan.com.

Sorry I’ve been sort of MIA this week. Unfortunately, I got smacked in the face with a nasty sinus infection so I’ve been down and out for the past few days. Luckily, I was able to catch it fast but let me tell you, having a full blown sinus infection at 9 months pregnant is pure torture! I was hoping the baby might decide to come a little early, but once I got sick, I prayed so hard that he would stay put until I got better. I could not imagine giving birth in the state I was in. I couldn’t breath for a solid 2 days and felt as though my head was going to explode. On top of all that, I carried a low grade fever so yeah, it was just pretty awful all around.

I went to the doctors yesterday and got on a Z-pack right away. Fortunately, the antibiotics are starting to kick in and I feel a lot better, but I’m still taking it easy and trying to rest as much as possible.

WIth that being said, I don’t have a whole lot to share on this gorgeous Friday afternoon other than a huge THANK YOU for all of your supportive comments on my BIG news I shared a few days ago. John and I appreciate every single one of them and we can’t wait for this next adventure.

I know one particular little guy that is quite happy about having a baby cousin to play with….

With that, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I’m hoping to feel well enough to FINALLY try out a pre-natal yoga class tomorrow morning, followed by a much needed pedicure. It’s been awhile and for some reason, I feel the need to have freshly manicured toes for when I got into labor. I’m sure I’ll care less what my toes look like when it actually happens, but for the time being, it’s important.

I could not be more excited for this weekend! First of all, it’s an extended one (thank you Labor Day!) and second, we are making the drive to PA to see my family and to partake in our second baby shower. Well, I’ll be showering; John will be spending some QT with the men in my family. It’s been a long weekend coming and even though I’m not thrilled to sit in a car for six or more hours, I know it will be all worth it. I haven’t seen my little munchkin since Easter. By the way, Weston is pumped to be a big cousin soon!

I can’t wait to share the recap and pictures with you guys when we get back, but in the meantime, here are a few things that I’ve loved this week.

Smoothies:

I’ve had a smoothie for breakfast almost every day this week. They are definitely satisfying my craving for liquids right now and surprisingly keeping my hunger at bay, at least until second breakfast. Yep, when you’re pregnant, you start including “second” meals or breaking up your meals into two different timeframes. I can’t eat a ton at one sitting so it helps to break them up. It’s a wonderful thing but also makes me feel like I’m eating ALL THE TIME!

Sleep:

I’ve been so tired these past few weeks and have been having an awful time sleeping. I can’t seem to find a comfortable position and don’t have very many options left. I know I’m supposed to be sleeping on my left side, but almost every time I attempt, the baby goes on a kicking spree. It happens on my right side but not as much as the left. I think he’s actually been favoring my left side and was comfortably positioned there for the past few weeks. Well, thank goodness he turned and is now head down and away from my left side so I’m able to sleep again. The other night, I had ten solid hours of glorious sleep and woke up feeling great.

Pumpkin Mistos:

Remember that article I posted the other day about the PSL Debate? Well, I think just talking about it got me in the mood. I HAD to stop yesterday morning and get one before work. I ordered a tall soy misto with one pump of pumpkin and let me tell you, it was fantastic. Even that one pump was a little too sweet so I’m thinking of going down to ½ a pump…. is that even possible?

The Baby’s Nursery:

We are 90% complete with the nursery! The other day, the changing table arrived, which was our last big piece of furniture. John was able to put it together and we arranged everything to how we wanted it. I can’t wait to show you guys pictures once it’s all done.

Ameda Breast Pump:

I was so fortunate to have received this breast pump from Ameda in the mail a few weeks ago. Obviously I have not used it yet (okay, so I may have tried it out to see what it was like) so I can’t give you my full opinion but the reviews are great and it appears to be a quality piece of equipment. Another bonus for any pumping mom’s – Ameda recently partnered with United Health Care and Target and are making it super easy for moms to get an Ameda breast pump. Check out more about it here.

For being a full workweek (considering last week was a shortened one), it definitely progressed a lot more quickly than I imagined.

Let’s see, this weekend is rather low-key for us. John is working tomorrow morning, but will have the rest of the weekend off, so we may try and hit up an Art’s Festival downtown or even venture into the city. It’s supposed to be beautiful, so I’m definitely planning on getting in some pool time tomorrow morning too!

And now to kick off a lighthearted Friday, here is my latest round of What I’m Loving!

Summer

I think it’s finally here! The fact that I can put on a bathing suit, lay out, and get a little tan is all the evidence I need that my absolute favorite season has finally decided to make its much awaited appearance. Our complex has a great pool and outdoor area that I plan on taking advantage of as much as I can this summer. I’m actually kind of digging the maternity one piece I got from Old Navy, as I thought I would hate wearing a bathing suit at six months pregnant. It’s really not that bad and I’m all about the protruding bump these days.

Free Doughnuts!

Thanks to my dear friend Courtney, I read that today is National Doughnut Day and Dunkin’ is giving a free doughnut to anyone that orders a drink. I’m not a fan of Dunkin’ coffee, but give me a free doughnut any day! Per her recommendation, I went with the Blueberry Glazed and it was to die!

Free Cookies!

Speaking of free pastries, did you know today is also FREE Cookie Day at Panera? Today only, you can receive a free cookie with your online order. I am going to go on sugar overload today I’m afraid.

Nursing Pillows

So I recently got a nursing pillow in the mail for free and while I think it will come in handy for its actual purpose, I’ve found better ways to utilize this until the baby arrives. I sit ALL DAY at work and it puts a ton of pressure on my lower back and behind. This nursing pillow is a great solution to that! I may end up getting a new one for when the little one arrives because I have a feeling I’ll take some of the cushion out of this one.

Medicating Myself

I can’t say I’m particularly loving the fact that I’m taking 17 pills a day at this point, but I am all about doing whatever it takes to get better. I finally began my drug treatment for my UC again, which puts me at 9 pills a day for that, on top of the prednisone, 2 mg of folic acid, a steroid suppository, a steroid enema, and my other prenatal vitamins. I’m being prescribed all of this through my doctors and Maternal Fetal Medicine, so I know they would never administer anything that wasn’t in the best interest of me or the baby, but it’s still never fun ingesting so many pills each day. Let’s just hope this is it and I can finally start to see a healthy progress. I honestly don’t know how much more I can take.

Well, that is all I have for today. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

I am personally stoked for the upcoming weekend as we kick things off with my first Red Sox game ever! John has been many times, but I was able to score some pretty amazing seats so the experience will be fantastic for him.

Tomorrow we head into a midwife appointment to check on Baby Roy and then we are venturing north into New Hampshire to do some day exploring in the adorable city of Portsmouth. This is new ground for the both of us and we are just excited to get away and spend some quality time together, all the while celebrating my love’s 29th year of life. Should be a great weekend!

Okay, here is the latest collection of Loving Lately. Hope you enjoy!

Trader Joe’s Powerberries Trek Mix

I’ve been on a trail mix kick for awhile now, but I picked up a bag of the Powerberries Trex Mix last weekend and it’s nearly gone. I honestly can not stop eating this stuff once I start.

Marylou’s Coffee

It is honestly the best iced coffee I’ve ever had and when I had the chance to journey to the Shore Shore last weekend, I made sure to pick myself up a huge decaf milky way iced coffee. I am just kicking myself for not stocking up on some ground coffee while I was there. I always get so overwhelmed when I walk in there and often forget the real reason I came. Oh well, at least I got a quick fix.

Caitlin posted this via Facebook last week and I found it to be an extremely heart provoking sentiment. Being only 3 months away from giving birth myself, I can’t help but to think about the actual birthing process and the many emotions that surround my mind on the procedure. I think every woman desires that “euphoric” experience but there is a great chance that it could also be a very traumatic experience and I have to be ready for that. This article supports the notion that it is OK for women to feel emotionally wounded from childbirth and it is OK to talk about it. I thought it was very well put.

Fresh Flowers

I always want them around this time of year. They really do just make me happy every time I see them.

Parenthood

I seemed to have entered Parenthood binge mode and watched three seasons in a matter of a month. With John working most nights and me not feeling well, I find myself spending most of my evenings in the horizontal position on the couch looking for good TV. This is where the binge began I suppose. I’m now hooked on this show and sad to see my On Demand list is empty of new episodes. This must mean it’s time for a new TV drama series to enter my dull life.

It’s Friday…what a relief! What is even more promising is that a beautiful weekend is in store. I was beginning to loose out all hope on any kind of spring with the weather we’ve been having lately. I’m sorry, but mid 50’s is definitely not May weather in my book.

Anyways, this weekend should be a good one. John is off work and we have a few errands to complete, one of which being getting our wedding invitations in the mail. We are not having a big wedding by any means, but we still want to create a memorable day with our closest families and friends, so most of it will be untraditional with a few customary traditions thrown in.

Other than that, we’ll be attending a doctor’s appointment for a baby check up (yay!) and have another appointment with a financial advisor to start getting our finances in order before the baby comes. It honestly stresses me out just thinking about it. The cost of daycare, medical bills, and so on is just plain daunting. Hopefully, we can get some sound advice to get us on the right track so we are not completely astounded come fall.

I’ve noticed that I seem to rotate between Friday Confession posts and What I’m Loving posts at the end of the week. Ultimately, there isn’t a huge difference between these styles, it really just depends on if I have more pointless personal acknowledgments or particular products/things that I want to recognize. Today, I realized this post falls into the later of the two.

Trader Joe’s Cage Free Hard-Cooked Peeled Eggs

You all know my deep infatuation with egg salad right now. Well, truth be told, I actually hate cooking hard-boiled eggs so this product is a lifesaver for me! And the best part, it’s the exact same price for a half carton of organic eggs. You get six eggs per bag so it evens out.

Breyer’s Gelato Indulgences – Tiramisu

Oh boy this stuff is good. No, not good, this stuff is incredible! I’m a sucker for tiramisu and honestly wasn’t sure how this would live up to my favorite dessert, but I promise you this is some of the best store bought ice cream I’ve ever had.

Baby Clothes

I knew it would be a matter of time before I couldn’t resist. I don’t think it is possible for me to walk into an infant department and not walk out with an outfit for my little guy. Everything is too adorable and so much more affordable than adult clothes. Baby Roy is going to have a closet full of stylish clothes in no time.

Spring Flowers

A guilty pleasure of mine is buying fresh flowers to keep in the house all week. They remind me every day that spring is here and put a smile on my face.

20 Min HITT Treadmill Workout

My runs are definitely not the length they use to be, so I’m always appreciative of quick and effective workouts that I can do in the mornings. This 20 min HTIT treadmill workout from Julie is topping my Pinterest list this week. The time fly by and with the gracious walk breaks imbedded in there, I was able to complete this with no problems. Eh, I did scale back a bit on the speed making my fastest sprint 9.0 mhp at just 30 seconds.

Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad

Oy, my obsession for deli style salad continues and only gets worse. I’ve had chicken, tuna, or egg salad for lunch every single day this week. I’m definitely counting this sudden fixation as a pregnancy craving because even though I’ve always liked these things, I’ve never craved them as much as I am right now. This recipe looks simple and delicious – a nice spin on the regular chicken salad. (Link here)

Emma Stone’s Lip Syncing Debut on Jimmy Fallon

I’m sure most of you have seen this by now, but wow, just wow! Emma Stone, I have mad respect for you!

13 Healthy Mexican Recipes

Who’s celebrating Cinco De Mayo next week? I don’t think I’ve ever actually gone out for this holiday, but I’m pretty sure I’ve always complied by making something mexican themed for dinner. I’m thinking tacos are in order this year but this has a lot of really tasty looking options. (Link here)